Friday, April 13, 2012

My Madonna with text

Which comes first: Illustration or text? Normally I would do the lettering for a project and then add the illumination, but to achieve the faux stained glass appearance, the background painting needs to be done first. Adding the lettering to My Madonna was another learning experience.

It is difficult for one who never relied on thumbnails and drafts before making marks, I know the next panel will be more thought out. Not only where to insert text, but also measuring the general layout especially for the illumination 'windows'.

I've learned to paint in the areas for the text first and then proceed to add the lettering. If I make any spelling or placement errors, the time spent painting the background is minimal. It would be easy to say, "Discard! Begin again."

Within My Madonna are many decisions based on the image and the story that goes with it. Now that she is more than 85% completed, there are parts that I can kick myself for not thinking about sooner. Leaving space for bumping up the black outlines to give the impression of the lead casements that hold the stained glass is a major regret."Next time" is a forgiving thought.